Bayer has removed a protein therapeutic for hypertension and a treatment for diabetic neuropathic pain from its phase 1 pipeline.
The German pharma giant had already evaluated an atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP)-based therapy, dubbed BAY 2701250, in 82 healthy individuals, according to the federal trials database.
The original plan had been to develop the drug for patients with pulmonary hypertension (PH) due to left heart disease, but Bayer disclosed in its first-quarter earnings documents Tuesday that the program has been scrapped.
PH due to left heart disease is a condition of high blood pressure in the vessels of the lungs caused by diseases in the left side of the heart.
Increasing ANP promotes widening of the blood vessels, in turn reducing blood pressure. Novartis’ heart failure blockbuster Entresto increases levels of ANP, although it is an angiotensin receptor-neprilysin inhibitor rather than an ANP-based drug.
A synthetic form of ANP, called carperitide, is licensed specifically in Japan to treat acute heart failure.
Bayer decided to discontinue BAY 2701250 as part of a routine evaluation of its portfolio to “focus our resources on the most promising options,” a spokesperson told Fierce Biotech this morning.
When asked whether this move will have any wider impact on the pharma’s cardiovascular pipeline, the spokesperson said the company “remains committed to cardiology innovation and is advancing a portfolio of innovative treatments in cardiovascular diseases of high unmet medical need.”
“Bayer’s portfolio already includes several innovative products as well as compounds in various stages of preclinical and clinical development,” they added.
When it comes to heart conditions, Bayer has marketed Adempas, a soluble guanylate cyclase stimulator, for hypertension for over a decade. The pharma also scored approval last year for its mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist Kirendia in two types of heart failure.
The other phase 1-stage asset that fell victim to this morning’s portfolio evaluation was a G-protein-coupled receptor 84 (GPR84) antagonist dubbed BAY 3178275. Bayer had been assessing the small molecule in a phase 1 study for diabetic neuropathic pain. Previous timelines suggest that the study was expected to wrap up in early 2024—but the company finally confirmed this morning that it has discontinued the program.
Belgium’s Galapagos Therapeutics had at one point identified GPR84 as playing a key role in inflammation. But the biotech’s attempts to maintain Johnson & Johnson’s interest in developing a GPR84 antagonist to treat inflammatory bowel diseases were ultimately unsuccessful.
